Insurance, Daylight Savings & Early Autumn 2024

Autumn in 2024

Photo credit: Just2GuysCreative@gmail.com

Here’s what’s covered in this newsletter ~

~Insurance Updates, Naturopathy, Where are all the Massage Therapists
~Adjusting to Daylight Savings
~Early Autumn and Foods for the Season
~Early Autumn Recipes
~Stress and Existential Fear

Insurance Updates

First, I am happy to share we have been admitted to Kaiser’s HMO Plan as of 10/01/2024. That means we are in network with Kaiser’s PPO and HMO. That said, there are all kinds of plans that have exceptions so checking benefits prior to starting treatment is important.

Second, Do you have Acupuncture benefits on your plan? This is a gentle reminder to make the most of them. I often hear people express disappointment for not having taken advantage of their insurance benefits before the year’s end and deductibles re-set.

Next, Whole Health, which is the clearing house for Kaiser and Aetna, accidentally cancelled Tacoma Acupuncture’s contracts when I submitted an update for the new address in July. That is now fixed and the contracts have been re-instated. If your visits were denied during that time we are getting them resubmitted. Please reach out to me if you have concerns.

ND and Massage

I’m happy to once again be sharing space with Jeff Harris ND! He will be in our office one Thursday a month. His next day is Oct. 10th. Jeff specializes in neural therapy and is a gifted practitioner.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have massage available at our office? I am looking for a body worker or masseur to join me. If you have someone who you think does great work please send them my way.

Daylight Savings & Sleep

One clock showing the new clock face time for daylight savings in the spring, the other clock showing the change for the fall.Lately I find myself yawning around 7:30 or 8 pm. Have you noticed how much darker it is at that time? We have about a month until day light savings when our clocks will fall back at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. This can throw some people’s circadian rhythms off making it difficult to get up or fall asleep. Here are some things to help with the transition, support your sleep and thus your energy:

Early Autumn

Drawing of of man with the Spleen Channel location on his body.
The Spleen Channel

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers some nutritional principles to help us adapt to the changes of season. Dividing Autumn into early, mid, and late gives your diet some guidelines and specificity to maximize your body’s potential for health in all its aspects. Let’s start by taking a look at early fall.

Early Fall

As we see summer shrinking in the rear view mirror, up ahead the leaves are beginning to turn colors (here in the PNW) and the sweaters are coming out for an added layer of warmth. TCM says this is the time to strengthen the spleen. In TCM the spleen helps digest food and absorb nutrients, it supports fluid metabolism for the body but especially to the lungs and kidneys. It supports our concentration, clear thinking, and ability to form intentions and decisions. Further, the emotion connected to the sleep is worry. To much worrying can damage the spleen, this includes overthinking and circuitous thinking, we call this Spleen Qi Deficiency. Spleen qi deficiency is common in our culture and especially during this time of impending political change and international wars.

In Western Medicine the Spleen filters blood, removes old or damaged red blood cells and destroys microorganisms. The spleen controls the levels of red and white blood cells, and platelets. It produces white blood cells and lymphocytes (white blood cells that fight infection). It also stores blood and iron for future use.

Some early fall foods that support the spleen qi include apples, pears, grapefruits, and dates. These foods are beneficial, helping your body adapt to the changes by nourishing the body’s Qi, blood, and Yin. Think seasonally, foods that may be available at the store but are out of season, like melons and strawberries, aren’t going to support this change.
Image credit to www.amanualofacupuncture.com (Deadman et al., 2005)
Below I’ve included two recipes that are ideal for Early Fall and make use of some of these seasonal food ideas.

Tea remedy for the beginning of a cold
Do you think you’re coming down with a cold? Don’t wait, even if your not sure, go ahead and enjoy this tea. There are many variations like adding cayenne or honey but here is the base recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 3 spring onions, white parts only, chopped roughly (nourish the lungs and yang)

  • 2 slices ginger (more ginger = more spicy, nourish yang)

  • 2 sprigs of mint (cooling and releasing the exterior, neither yin nor yang)

  • 2 cups of water

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil until the liquid approx. 10-15 minutes. Discard the herbs, keeping the liquid.

If you think your getting sick drink the tea as soon as its cool enough, get into bed or bundle up to enhance sweating and help the body sweat the cold out. If you feel damp after sweating change into dry clothes and then rest.

Porridge
Does this sound boring… maybe, however it’s easy and accessible and with some new flavors can be a great way to liven up a traditional breakfast food. Oats are a warming Qi tonic for the the Spleen and Stomach. Adding in tahini, apples, and pears will help nourish and strengthen the yin, add fiber to your diet, and can be helpful for constipation.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup oats (nourish qi and blood, help to circulate qi and calm the spirit)
  • 2 ½ cups water

  • Tahini (nourishing yin, nourishes the blood and supports the kidneys.)

  • Apple (cooling, moistening, and nourishing yin)

  • Pear (cooling, moistening, and nourishing yin, esp. for the lung yin)

blue ceramic bowl holding porridge.
Photo credit to April J. Harris

Method:
If you have time soak the oats overnight in the cooking water in the cooking pot covered.  Cooking time will depend on the type and thickness of your oats. While cooking, add the chopped apple and/or pear. Cook to desired fruit doneness. Apples take longer to cook than pears so you may want to start them first and smaller pieces cook faster than larger ones. Add the tahini at the end so it integrates and is warmed.  Bingo! A simple yin nourishing breakfast. (I like to add some walnuts (KD & Lung yin), a bit of cardamom (yang) and cinnamon (yang) in mine).

Does this feel like a difficult time? For me, the war in the Middle East, the Ukrainian/Russia war, and our up coming Presidential election can leave me with tangible and existentialist fear.  I see many people frayed at the ends, their patience and good will in shorter supply. The need to fill that discomfort with the likes of distraction (TV, scrolling), food, hermiting, or other such things are coping mechanisms which sometimes create their own stress.  How to find emotional stability when you feel unempowered? That answer is often unique to the individual but there are some things that are considered to help calm the parasympathetic nervous system (pns).  Curiously, I recently learned that touching your lips activates the pns because the lips contain parasympathetic fibers.  Exercise works well for me. I have found focused breathing to be helpful – where I take a minute or two and give my breath my full attention, slowing it down and taking a deeper fuller breath. I try to do this a few times a day or at least when I notice when I need some help. It also feels good to let your shoulders drop away from your ears on the exhale. Perhaps this would benefit you?

It’s ok to let people know you could use some support. That could look like holding hands for some skin contact that creates oxytocin which can help reduce stress and anxiety, or being able to verbalize your fears out loud and being witnessed. Earlier this summer on a mountain with a steep decent and loose shale and rocks I found myself having a panic attack as my fear of the terrain took on monstrous proportions.  I waited for someone coming along the trail, and told him I was having a panic attack. I truly lucked out, he stopped and talked with me for 10 or 15 minutes, mostly about nothing in particular, until I felt calmer and could go on.  After I felt calm I could have berated myself but it was easier to be gentle with myself. I like to think of it as giving myself grace. It feels like I’m treating myself the way I want to treat others. It’s a practice, sometimes I remember, other times I remember a bit later.

Good luck. I’m here if you want to some acupuncture to take the edge off or for stress and anxiety.  I’ve read it can help with that 😉

– Romi

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(253) 382-9432

1326 Tacoma Ave South, Suite 200
Tacoma WA 98402